While Marion Tait will be creating the role of the wicked stepmother, the Company Ballet Mistress has also been helping David Bintley to recruit additional dancers for Cinderella.

‘We have a scene where you see Cinderella and the sisters when they were very young’ reveals David, ‘and so Marion has been up to Elmhurst [Birmingham Royal Ballet’s associated ballet school] and auditioned some of the students. They will also play a couple of mice later in the story. Those are dancing roles, which is why we’re specifically using Elmhurst students rather than just child actors.’

Marion attended class at the school recently, and was introduced to a class of first-year students by former Company Ballet Master, now Elmhurst Artistic Director Desmond Kelly. So as not to cause any nerves, the children were simply told that Marion was simply there to observe class. It was only afterwards that they were approached separately and invited to join the cast for Cinderella. Once the Company returns from the autumn tour, the students will join Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dancers for the weeks leading up to the premiere of the new work.